Politics, Legal & Regulation

July 5, 2022 @ 4:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

MiCA, Markets in Crypto Assets legislation, is still being digested by industry insiders. The goal is to provide a regulated path for digital asset innovation – sufficient protections to guard against abuse but still empowering industry participants to create new products and services within a… Read More

July 5, 2022 @ 9:36 am By JD Alois  |  

Last week, it was revealed that the decision-makers for the European Union had come to terms on crypto-asset regulation under the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation. The European Commission announced the MiCA proposal on 24 September 2020 as part of a larger digital finance… Read More

July 4, 2022 @ 10:57 am By JD Alois  |  

A member of the Singapore Parliament has inquired as to whether, or not, the government intends on further restrictions on crypto trading. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Minister in charge of MAS (the Monetary Authority of Singapore) has issued a response. Shanmugaratnam states that this… Read More

July 4, 2022 @ 10:07 am By JD Alois  |  

FATF (Financial Action Task Force) has issued an update on virtual assets (VAs) and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and approved standards and implementation. FATF is a global entity but does not have rule-making authority as regulations must be set by members. FATF has pursued… Read More

July 2, 2022 @ 7:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Ruja Ignatova, founder of OneCoin and sometimes referenced as the Cryptoqueen, is in the news again – this time for joining a very exclusive club – the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Ignatova is accused of having defrauded investors out of $4 billion via her company… Read More

July 2, 2022 @ 12:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Structure.fi, a global financial platform that recently raised $20 million to offer its mainstream audience a mobile-first personal finance tool capable of transacting seamlessly across all asset classes, announced that the government of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the BVI Financial Services Commission (FSC)… Read More

June 30, 2022 @ 10:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

The President’s Working Group (PWG) on Financial Markets met today to discuss the topic of stablecoins. In 2021, the PWG published a report on stablecoins requesting legislation stating: “…in the absence of Congressional action, which is urgently needed to address the prudential risks inherent in… Read More

June 30, 2022 @ 7:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Union has agreed on crypto-asset regulation under the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation. According to tweets distributed by Member of European Parliament (MEP) Stefan Berger, Europe will be the first continent with crypto asset regulation as the European Parliament, European Commission and… Read More

June 30, 2022 @ 12:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Largest CFTC Enforcement Action Ever Involving Bitcoin. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced its largest enforcement action regarding Bitcoin ever. According to the CFTC, charges have been filed in a case involving a South African individual, Cornelius Johannes Steynberg, and his organizations involving… Read More

June 30, 2022 @ 9:26 am By JD Alois  |  

Grayscale’s most recent attempt of migrating Bitcoin-based GBTC, traded on OTC Markets, to an exchange-traded fund (ETF), has been denied. In an Order posted by the SEC yesterday, the Commission disapproved a proposed rule change that would have allows the spot Bitcoin ETF to trade… Read More

June 29, 2022 @ 6:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, Germany’s Federal Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner, and the Federal Minister of Justice, Dr.Marco Buschmann, announced regulatory and policy changes designed to boost entrepreneurship, access to capital, and embrace the digitization of finance with digital securities – or security tokens. The Financing Act. Das… Read More

June 29, 2022 @ 4:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

According to a series of Tweets, the Norwegian government will dip its toes into leveraging blockchain technology. As shared in the Tweets, the Norwegian government will be utilizing Ethereum via Arbitrum for cap tables of private firms. Earlier today the Norwegian government announced they're using… Read More

June 28, 2022 @ 4:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

Giacomo Bertoldi, CEO of Walliance, has been appointed as the new Chair of EUROCROWD. Bertoldi will be taking over from Christin Friedrich, founder and CEO of Innovestment. The selection of Bertoldi was made during EUROCROWD’s meeting last week and he will serve as non-executive Chair… Read More

June 25, 2022 @ 4:40 pm By JD Alois  |  

While some people say a proverbial “soft landing” is possible for the economy a growing number of people are expecting a recession as soon as this year or perhaps in 2023. As a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative growth, and the fact that… Read More

June 25, 2022 @ 11:28 am By JD Alois  |  

PSD2 or the European Payment Services Directive 2, has been in force since 2016 but payment services providers had until 2018 to adhere to the rules. The EU directive requires providers to incorporate heightened authentication features as well as taking aim at APIs that may… Read More

June 24, 2022 @ 8:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) in the UK has set out its plans showing how it proposes “to carry out two market reviews focusing on card fees.” As noted in the update from PSR, one “looks at scheme and processing fees, and the other at… Read More

June 23, 2022 @ 9:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed ESG rules that may compel public firms to disclose climate risks that may impact the environment. The rule proposal was accepting comments from interested parties up until this past week with a deadline of June 17th. While everyone… Read More

June 23, 2022 @ 11:11 am By JD Alois  |  

Congressman Jim Himes, an elected official from Connecticut, has published a “white paper” on the benefits of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Upon release, Himes issued the following statement: “Over the last few years, we have seen other governments make real progress in establishing… Read More

June 22, 2022 @ 10:52 am By JD Alois  |  

Eurocrowd, the leading association representing the investment crowdfunding industry in Europe, has announced a survey to garner information as to the status of their members in the approval process under pan-European crowdfunding rules. Last November, the European Union revealed crowdfunding regulations to enable raising capital… Read More

June 22, 2022 @ 10:38 am By JD Alois  |  

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will review credit card companies and their penalty policies like fees assessed for late payments. The CFPB reports that credit card companies generate $12 billion in revenue each year from these fees. More than 175 million citizens hold credit… Read More